История письма и чтения. Асафова Г.К. - 81 стр.

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the text was ready, it was fitted into a frame to produce a stable, portable “form”

which was then laid on the base of the press.

Printing the pages

The next job was to ink the form, using a blend of clear linseed oil varnish –

which helped the ink to stick to the metal type – and lampblack for the black

colour. A pair of “inkballs” – leather pads, filled with wadding, attached to wooden

handles – were lightly coated in the ink, then dabbed onto the type. The printer laid

the paper over the form, then turning a handle on the press, moved it into position.

He then pulled a bar on the press, which operated the screw and applied even

pressure over the form, peeled back the paper and stacked it next to the press.

Gutenberg printed around 16 copies an hour in this way, and some 20 men kept six

presses working full time for more than a year to produce the Bible.

Pioneers of printing in ancient China

In AD 868, nearly 600 years before Gutenberg, Chinese printers produced

the Diamond Sutra – a collection of Buddhist scriptures and illustrations – and the

earliest known printed item. It was part of an established printing tradition, the

origins of which can be traced back to the small jade, ivory or bamboo seals, that

were used to authenticate documents much as signature is used today. The raised

characters embossed on these seals were smeared with ink and then printed onto

the documents.

Letters carved in wood

This same principle was later adapted for woodcuts. Chinese characters and

pictures were delicately carved in reverse out of a block of wood, then inked. Paper

– another Chinese invention dating back to

c.AD 100 – was rubbed over the